Kudos to Arizona’s Attorney General Terry Goddard for starting to figure out how we can defeat Mexico’s drug cartels:
Attorney General Terry Goddard said Tuesday he might be willing to consider legalizing marijuana if a way can be found to control its distribution – and figure out who has been smoking it.
Goddard said marijuana sales make up 75 percent of the money that Mexican cartels use for other operations, including smuggling other drugs and fighting the Mexican army and police.
He said that makes fighting drug distribution here important to cut off that cash. He acknowledged those profits could be slashed if possession of marijuana were not a crime in Arizona.
This is the first time I can recall a state Attorney General publicly – and accurately – commenting on the connection between the power of Mexico’s cartels (which are terrorizing the U.S.-Mexico border) and the fact that marijuana prohibition gives them the billions of dollars that make them so powerful. Figuring out how to regulate the sale of marijuana to adults is a minor challenge for state governments when compared to the benefits from increased tax revenue and the significant drop in money going to armed gangs along our southern border.
UPDATE: A longer version of the same article is here, which contains this classic comment from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent Matthew Allen:
“But if we’re going to go down that road, what is the acceptable amount of marijuana that you want a bus driver to have in their system?” [Allen] continued.
“I believe it’s zero,” Goddard said later.
I do too. Just like alcohol, which is legally sold to adults.
Singer smoke it
And players of instruments too
Legalize it, yeah, yeah
That’s the best thing you can do
Doctors smoke it
Nurses smoke it
Judges smoke it
Even the lawyers too
Um… Grow it in state licensed greenhouses* and sell it at the liquor store?
Getting accurate information on usage rates is difficult because it’s illegal.
A fucking men.
Until the Attorney General gets this all straightened out, maybe everybody could just stop smoking it. That would help put the kibosh on the Mexican drug cartel. Plus smoking marijuana surely isn’t very good for your lungs.
Lee, you and I are good friends, so I think I can tell you that NOBODY IS THINKING ABOUT DRUG CARTELS RIGHT NOW!
@4
I’m not sure “wishing upon a star” has ever solved an organized crime problem. And cigarettes are far worse for your lungs, but they’re legal (and should remain so).
@5
I’m sure the families of the 5000 people who’ve been killed by drug violence in Mexico are thinking about the cartels right now. Or are they “nobody” because they’re overwhelmingly Mexican?
@4
Having sex isn’t good for your lungs either, but people still do it. Stopping sex would cut down on the herpes problem though.
@5
WHERE IS THE GODDAMN CAPS LOCK KEY?
Oh.
I say legalize marijuana now and let adults enjoy this substance if they choose to do so. Since this “drug” has only been illegal since the 1930’s (or so), it appears to me that the biggest risk in smoking reefer is getting caught and having to deal with a vindictive justice system (particularly in Texas) that’s out of touch with society.
Legalize pot now!
@8
Hey PI,
Have you seen KopBusters? Check it out, I think you’ll appreciate what they’re doing:
http://nevergetbusted.com/kopbusters/index.php
Texas (especially north-central Texas) is particular bad in this respect, but he could probably do stuff like that all over the country and make a full-fledged TV show. In fact, I hope that’s what he’s doing.